The Wish Seekers
by Trivun
Summary: The Wish Seekers. A clandestine group dedicated to looking for a legendary power that can grant any wish one's heart desires. Willow Clearwater, a cynical and possibly alcoholic monk, has been invited to join their illustrious ranks. Teaming up with a group of 'mostly good' misfits, each with their own motivations, she'll soon come to regret whatever their journey has in store...
1. Chapter One - A Bump in the Road

The road to Centralis was a long and winding one, but Willow and her comrades had stumbled on a certain degree of luck. They may have been behind bars, technically, but travelling in the back of a Watch cart was a lot more comfortable than walking the whole distance. Of course, if things had gone their way just one night before, they would have been in a different carriage with actual seats, and proper windows. Still, they were grateful for little blessings, and Rob was now the proud owner of a brand new bandana which he was wearing as a sort of trophy, grinning from ear to ear behind his thick bushy beard.

Willow looked around at her colleagues in the back of the cart. There were six of them in total, including herself, and her old travelling companion Rob, a dwarf barbarian who was currently swigging ale from a flask.

"Do you maybe want to lay off the alcohol, for once in your life?" Willow asked him, giving a pointed stare. He turned to her, and shrugged, and continued to drink. She sighed, and thought back to the events of the previous few days.

The previous afternoon, numbering just five, they had set off from the coastal town of Morfirth, with its palm trees and sandy beaches, following the path towards the capital of Centralis. A few weeks prior, Willow had received a letter, inviting her to join the 'Wish Seekers'; the letter gave no clue as to the purpose of the organisation, only that at some point in the past she had been involved with a member and had impressed them sufficiently enough to be invited into their ranks. Upon arriving in Morfirth by ship, she had encountered a number of others with similar letters, all on their way to the Wish Seeker headquarters located in the capital.

* * *

"Excuse me, young miss, but I'm looking for passage to Centralis. I believe a carriage can be hired here?" The voice belonged to a man of roughly middle age, and was aimed at a slightly dumpy, yet moderately pretty, girl, by the name of Jean. She just happened to be the owner of a coach service running between Morfirth and Centralis, and gave her assent to the man as she stood in a stable grooming a pair of sandy-coloured horses.

"That would be right, mister…"

"Lionel Grey. Although, less of the 'mister'. It's actually Cleric."

"Ah, I'm so sorry," said Jean, with a slight bow of respect for the holy man. "If you'd like to step inside, I'll go through the rates and we can sort out your payment." She led the way around the stables to a small door in the corner, and beckoned Lionel inside, who followed directly. Before the door could close behind them, however, a slender young woman with wavy red hair rushed up to them, slightly out of breath.

"I'm sorry, did I hear you right just then? You're travelling to Centralis?"

"Yes, that would be correct," said Lionel, wondering who this woman could be. "And you are…?"

"Willow. Just, Willow. I'm heading there myself, any chance we could maybe share a lift?" She looked at him earnestly, waiting for some kind of agreement. He turned to Jean and gave her a brief glance, to which she replied with a curt nod, and set to work organising the paperwork.

"As it happens, you're not the only ones looking to travel to the capital today. I've got three more in the waiting room all paid up and ready to go. Lucky the carriage has space for six."

Through a small window in the office, Willow and Lionel looked out to see three more people sat on benches, either reading or simply napping. Willow recognised one of them, the dwarf who was lying across two seats and snoring heavily. Also present was a half-elf, perusing a book the topic of which neither could quite make out, and a dark-skinned woman with features that seemed vaguely recognisable to Willow, but who she was certain she had never met previously.

"Popular destination these days," Jean continued. "Lots of people carrying these strange letters, not a clue what they mean, but I'm not complaining. Good for business, eh?" The pair muttered in agreement, as Jean drew up a set of papers to confirm the rates to be paid, the terms of travel and liability waivers in case of bandit attacks and other unfortunate and unforseen events on the road. With everything signed, and gold exchanged, they all shook hands, and headed to the waiting room to meet their fellow travellers.

* * *

As it turned out, the liability had been a very wise move by Jean. She was not only the owner of the business, but also the driver, and it seemed she did everything else within the company as well. Along the road, their carriage had been attacked by bandits and their Hell Hounds, and the poor girl had been knocked unconscious when the carriage overturned. A quick pursuit in the forest led the party to the bandit lair, inside an abandoned house, where they fought and managed to kill the remaining villains. Jean, however, had vanished.

The party had soon taken advantage of the now empty house, and slept off their wounds. In the morning, two surprises had come along, one after the other – an addition to their little group in the form of Kristoph, something of a new-age wood elf, who had also been tracking the same bandits and also received a card from the Wish Seekers – followed by a knight and a priest, affiliated with the Centralis Watch, along with their main church. Initially they had been ready to attack the group believing them to be the bandits, but when they saw the bodies and received a vote of confidence from their newest member, the pair had been all too willing to accept their innocence and offer them a lift to Centralis. Now, they were just a few hours away from their destination, hopeful of little disturbance along the road. Of course, they should have known things would never be so easy...

"Alright, lunch break. Everyone out!" The carriage stopped alongside a pleasant and shallow brook, sometime around midday. The knight, who was driving, came around to open up the back of the wagon and let everyone stretch their legs, and maybe grab a bite to eat. "You people got any food for yourselves?"

They answered in the affirmative, generally carrying rations along the way, before Kristoph piped up. He had a rather special skill, he explained, and was able to produce a number of berries that could keep a person refreshed and full for a whole day. To demonstrate, he conjured up a handful and distributed them amongst the team. Everyone received one, including the two holy men and the animated armour they had enchanted to stay guard. All in all, it seemed as if for once things would be quiet and peaceful.

As they rested, Lionel took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the half-elf, curious to know more about the people he was journeying with. So far both Rob and Willow had proven relatively evasive, with the former more interested in his drink, and the latter resisting any attempts to be meaningfully sociable. It would appear the desire to share a ride had been borne more out of necessity, as this was one of the very few services to run between the town and the city, rather than her wanting to make friends or influence people.

"So," he began, "what brings you to the capital with the rest of us?"

The half-elf looked up, and paused a moment, as if weighing up the cleric, before answering. "I would assume the same reason as the rest of you." He reached into his pocket, and drew an envelope, the broken seal matching that on Lionel's own letter. "I take it we've all received one of these, as many of the people heading north have also done?"

Lionel was mildly impressed at the deductive reasoning shown, but didn't press it any further. Instead, he drew his own envelope, to confirm the other man's suspicions. "It seems we're of the same mind, then. What should I call you, friend?"

"The name is Corryn Sabrae," the half-elf replied. "And yourself?"

"Lionel Grey. It's a pleasure." He reached out a hand, and Corryn took it, shaking firmly. He continued, "What do you make of that one over there?", gesturing towards the dark-skinned girl who sat alone a distance away from the group.

"Ah, now. That would be Kaylessa. Truth be told, I've not spoken much to her. She doesn't strike me as the friendly sort." Corryn went on, explaining that she appeared to be something of a warlock, and had spent most of the day praying to her patron, an Archfey whose name had escaped him. "There is something of the darkness about her, I will say that much. Not too sure I trust her."

* * *

The rest of the meal was spent in relative silence. The calm was soon interrupted, however, as the members of the group each looked up to see the armour on either side of the stream shutting down, slumping to the ground as if an invisible switch had been put in the 'off' position. Almost simultaneously, the knight and the priest sank down where they sat, leaning against rocks and trees. Concerned, Corryn ran across to the nearest one and checked to see if he was still breathing. Fortunately, his enquiry was met by a loud snore.

"They're just sleeping. It should be okay..." The words had barely left his mouth when suddenly a large creature emerged from the trees, screeching in a twisted fashion that was somewhere between an owl's cry and an ursine roar. Willow was standing near the edge of the clearing, and recognised them immediately. "Owlbears," she called out. "Watch out!" She ran back and attempted to enter a defensive stance, ready for combat. As one, the rest of her party assumed whatever passed for them each as a fighting position, not only to defend themselves but also their sleeping acquaintances, gathering in a tight circle in the middle of the clearing. A quick count confirmed there were three of them – two larger owlbears, and a smaller one that Willow could only assume was their offspring. Although she hated the thought of fighting against a child, she knew well the damage a full grown owlbear could do. It had been a while since she had faced off against one, but on her travels in the last century she'd certainly encountered the odd few here and there. Something about these seemed strange, though. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but as she looked across to the nearest creature, she saw into its eyes, and thought she could observe a brief glimmer of intelligence. More so than any she'd previously come across. She had little time to dwell on this, however, before the first of the parents charged towards the group, bellowing as it approached.

First blood came swiftly. As a group they were able to hold their own, but soon they were all scattered, each fighting a different opponent. For her own part, Willow was facing off against one of the parents south of the stream, while further upriver the other parent dealt with attacks from Kaylessa and Lionel. They made an unlikely pair in combat – Kaylessa's attacks were brutal, unrelenting, pushing the beast back with barely any effort. Lionel, in contrast, was calm and commanding, serious in his approach and much more controlled, albeit no less effective. Further away, Rob was attempting to take down the baby while Corryn stood away from the melee with his longbow drawn, assisting wherever he could.

With a brief pause in her one-to-one combat with the first parent, aided in no small part by Corryn's bow, Willow was able to glance briefly at Kristoph, stood to one side. At first, he had taken part in the combat, using druidic powers of transformation to take the form of a dire-wolf, but repeated assaults had left him bruised and battered and now he was attempting to recover as much as possible on the sidelines. So far, the owlbears had failed to notice him. She caught Kristoph's eye, and realised with a shared look that he too had noticed the oddity in the situation. She had no time to react, however, before her target took another swing.

Before it could connect, Willow dodged out of the way, staggering back and responding with an assault of her own. In her years at the monastery, she had trained in a number of disciplines, but one had always stuck out for her. Drunken Master, the art of fighting whilst appearing to be intoxicated, using the distinctive movements of inebriated souls to both avoid attacks while also confounding the enemy, putting one in a perfect position to strike. She remembered her first lesson after requesting to be trained in the style. She had naturally assumed that Drunken Master meant fighting whilst drunk, and so she had turned up at the dojo after downing two full bottles of mountain plum wine. In all fairness, her instructor had admitted quietly later on that he'd been impressed that she could hold two bottles without being sick, given the wine was a speciality of the region's monks who were themselves no strangers to the joys of an incredibly high alcohol content and very little oversight. On the other hand, Willow had spent the next three weeks covered in bruises and aching all over, learning the hard way that it wasn't a good idea to turn up to a training session straight after drinking her way through Grandmaster Tei's private stores. In the following months, she had slowly become rather proficient at the use of the Drunken Master style, and now it proved to be handy for weaving in and out of the clumsy attempts of this owlbear to land a hit against her.

One, two, three dodges and a staggered dash to the right, and she found herself in a position to land a critical blow. She brought her quarterstaff down hard on the beast's head, before following it up with a palm strike directly to the face. She heard a loud crack, and blood began to pour from the owlbear's mouth, ears and nose. It dropped to the floor and didn't get up again. Before she could turn and join the others in their own skirmishes, however, Willow heard a loud cry. "No, Momma!"

This startled her, and she quickly looked around to see the baby owlbear rushing towards her, having escaped from Rob who now stood alone, slightly dazed but otherwise seemingly unhurt. Another look towards Kristoph confirmed her suspicions. He could tell as well as she could, that something wasn't right here. Since when did owlbears have this kind of intelligence, let alone the ability to speak the common tongue? Granted, it wasn't much of a speech, the words coming out as guttural and barely intelligible. Willow doubted that the creature would be able to say much else, if anything at all, but clearly it was in distress. Before she could react, it crashed down upon her, clawing and biting, attempting to do any sort of damage as if seeking vengeance for its fallen mother. All she could do was try and fend it off, unwilling now to hurt the poor thing before either she or Kristoph could discover more.

Left and right again, she staggered around and dodged as well as she could to keep the claws and teeth at bay. Soon enough though, she found herself being driven back and with no other option but to strike out. She attempted to pull her blow, but the quarterstaff still did some damage, she could tell. However, it was enough. The baby owlbear cried out in pain, and ran to the side, heading south. Kaylessa looked across, but Willow shook her head and the other girl turned back to her own opponent. She seemed exhausted, but Lionel was managing to hold it off without breaking much of a sweat. Kaylessa retreated slightly to lick her own wounds, and the baby owlbear continued away, escaping successfully into the woods.

For a brief moment, Willow considered following it. What could be causing the strange intelligence that it possessed, and why had they attacked? She thought about it, then decided to hold back. It didn't seem too important, and her colleagues were still in combat. She turned back to the stream, intending to cross it, only to stop when she saw the other parent retreating to the north, bleeding from a number of wounds in its side. Rob stood across the stream from her, panting heavily and clutching his red-stained axe.

"Ah showed that beasty who was boss, eh? Huff, huff..." He tried to catch his breath, but dropped down to the ground, where he was caught by a running Corryn.

"Let's get you up, back in the cart...", he said, half dragging Rob and half guiding him towards the cart parked just a short way up from the battle ground. As they went, their sleeping companions started to stir.

"What... what happened?" They looked over at the corpse of the first owlbear parent, a baffled expression on both faces. "Is everyone alright?"

"We're fine," said Willow, walking over. "Let's just get out of here." Without a further word, she climbed inside the cart with the others, and waited. She knew she would have to discuss the strange behaviour of these creatures at some point with Kristoph, but that could wait. They'd not come out of the fight unscathed; with Kaylessa even more exhausted than Rob she had fallen asleep before they even started moving. With the opportunity to rest though, and renewed resolve, they continued on their journey to Centralis.


	2. Chapter Two - Queen of Hearts

A few hours after the encounter in the forest, the group were woken from whatever rest they had managed to steal, by the sound of a gate opening. The city gates to Centralis were large and ancient, and the metal chains clanged and aged wood creaked as they rose to allow entry to the party's transport. Although they couldn't see much out of the bars at the rear of the wagon, Rob tried to jump up and look out to view their surroundings, however the others weren't entirely sure that he wasn't just looking for something to fight or to drink. He carried on for a couple of amusing minutes before Lionel, taking pity on him, picked him up bodily and held his face to the gap. Kaylessa, sat to one side away from everyone else, gave a snort of derision before turning away.

Willow could see she was still wounded somewhat from the previous fight – it was written on her face in the slightly twisted grimace that seemed to accompany everything she said or did now. It wasn't major and wouldn't take long to heal, but she could tell, the other woman was unwilling to allow anyone else to know. Instead, Kaylessa leaned back and closed her eyes, and soon she was back into a deep sleep. It was amazing how anyone could stay sleeping with the jerking of the wagon on the rough cobbled streets, or with the sound of citizens going about their daily lives, noise permeating everything around them, but somehow she managed it. She'd been more exhausted than anyone had suspected. At least if she was asleep it would avoid any trouble finding them through her, for the beginning anyway. Kaylessa seemed to be the sort to attract the wrong kind of attention.

The knight at the front continued through Centralis, driving the wagon towards the middle of the city. They went by an old abbey at one point, and it was here that the elderly priest stepped off the cart, but not before giving a meaningful look to the knight who continued his journey. This went unnoticed by the party, who couldn't see towards the front of the wagon as it passed on. A number of turns and side streets later, and they came to a halt. A brief pause, Kaylessa still sleeping, and the rear door opened, revealing their new location.

"Alright, we're here. Everyone out." The knight stepped back as one by one the group jumped down into what seemed to be a small courtyard, surrounded on all sides by old brick walls and with a timber gate evidently providing the way in and out for carriages. He looked inside to see Kaylessa still there. "Is she okay? She's not moving..."

"She's fine." Behind the knight's back, Willow gave an urgent gesture to the others, waving her hand against her throat as if to say 'don't utter a word'. They wisely held back and stayed silent. "She just needs to rest."

"Well, she can wait there then. I'll come and grab her when we need her. If you'd all like to just follow me?"

The knight led the way through a side door and down a number of stone corridors. They walked for about a minute before entering a large room full of cells. This was a wide and tall hallway, in an 'L' shape, with a raised walkway around the edges and stone lined vaults each with a set of metal bars both horizontal and vertical, blocking off every vault except for the steel gates that allowed access to each. Looking up, the party could see further cells and timber walkways above them, rising about three storeys, and an arched ceiling far above them. By the gate at the far end of the hallway, around the corner, they noticed what seemed to be an office of some sort, or perhaps an interrogation room, set away from the vault cells. Next to it, a single cell door was open, and the torches by it were lit and inviting.

"Sorry to have to do this, we just need to get some answers from you regarding the house we found you in. The Watch have been chasing that bandit clan for a long time and it seems rather convenient that you would happen to deal with them just as we were closing in." Without waiting for an answer, the knight pointed towards the cell door next to the office and watched as, surrounded by guards throughout the compound, the party filed in to the vault. "Don't worry, you'll be free to go as soon as our questions are answered. Your friend, in the cart, we'll speak to her later, you shouldn't need to wait for her."

"Unless our answers don't match up, I assume?" Corryn spoke up here, directly towards the watch captain who was emerging from the office. Corryn was actually a detective himself, privately employed, although the Watch here didn't seem to be aware of that, and truth be told he had no particular desire to illuminate them.

The Captain responded, "That would be correct, Mr...?"

"Sabrae. Corryn Sabrae."

"Ah, yes. Indeed. We will speak to you one by one, and if we're happy you're telling the truth then of course you'll be released. We're not in the habit of imprisoning innocents in Centralis."

At this, Corryn nodded his approval, and sat back patiently on the stone bench that filled one side of the cell. Lionel, next to him, was equally at peace, and Kristoph didn't seem concerned either, stretched out on the hard floor opposite the door. Rob, however, was taking their incarceration with less serenity.

"Let me out of here! Ye cannae chain up a barbarian like myself, I'll get oot an' I'll kill every last one of ye's!" He struggled as Willow tried to hold him back, pushing him towards the corner with her quarterstaff.

"Rob, you moron, we're alright! They've not even taken our weapons, we're going to be fine!"

"You should listen to your pretty friend, dwarf." The casual comment from the Captain annoyed Willow, just a little – it seemed a bit patronising to be called his 'pretty friend', but she was gracious enough to accept the compliment. "Just be patient, and you'll soon be out on the streets of our fair city, free to roam as you will."

"Ye promise?"

"Of course. My word is my bond." The Captain hesitated, halfway towards extending his open hand as if to shake Rob's own rather filthy appendage, then thought better of it. The dwarf grunted his curt approval, and turned away, sitting in the corner next to Kristoph. Willow leaned back against the other wall and sighed, glad that any confrontation had been avoided. The last thing they needed in a new city was to pick a fight with law enforcement, and much less in the centre of their headquarters. All they had to do was answer truthfully, leave here, and make their way to the tavern where they were to meet their contacts in the Wish Seekers.

Over the next hour, one by one, they were summoned to the office (which, as it turned out, was soundproofed and was indeed used as an interrogation room in some circumstances), to answer the questions of the Watch. The knight had already left, presumably for the abbey where he had previously dropped off the priest, and so the questions were carried out solely by the Captain and his own subordinate. Although the exact detail tended to vary depending on who was telling the tale (with Rob embellishing his own apparent legend to have single-handedly slaughtered every bandit and their dogs and drinking their entire ale supply in the celebrations afterwards), they all matched the general truth without any significant discrepancies. Soon enough, they were all standing in the late afternoon sunshine outside the main gates, entering Centralis proper for the first time.

"Ahem...", came a voice from behind. As one, the party (minus Kaylessa, still sleeping her battle fatigue away) turned to face the Captain. "We'll be needing that."

He was pointing directly at Rob's forehead, and the bandana he had taken from the bandit captain. "What, this? Ye cannae have this. It's mine. I found it."

"I'm afraid we need to take it from you. There'll be an inquest... and that bandana is vital evidence."

"But... but it's mine..." Rob wailed slightly, a pitiful cry that showed just how much he'd come to cherish the trophy he'd taken from the bandit's corpse, almost like a treasured childhood blanket.

"It's alright," said Willow, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll get you a new bandana. Come on..." She gently lifted it from his head, seeing the tears welling up in his eyes, and handed it over to the Captain.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for your friend, I hope it's not too hard a loss for him."

"He'll get over it, he's just a big soft lump." It was odd referring to Rob as a soft lump after seeing him headbutt enemies to death, of course, but there wasn't much else Willow could imagine to describe him while he looked so down and miserable. He turned without a word and shambled away, with no clue to where he was headed.

At this, the Captain made his way back inside, but not before pointing down another street opposite to where Rob was heading. "By the way, if you're here to join the Wish Seekers as you claim, then you'll likely want the market and the tavern. They're down that way, about fifteen minutes walk, you can't miss it."

Thanking him, the party called Rob back and set him on the right path, and took the next great step on their journey.

* * *

They found the market easily enough, located right in front of the tavern they were headed for, in an average sized pedestrian square. The group split up to start shopping and soon enough they were stocked up on all manner of potions, useful equipment, and weapons as needed.

As she browsed a display of climbing equipment, rope and boots and spikes, Willow noticed in the corner of her eye a strangely familiar figure. She glanced across briefly, careful not to draw unwanted attention. Something stirred in her mind, and she was reminded of another group of adventurers, from many years ago, whom she had once travelled with. The same group where she had first met Rob, over a century ago, before the monks of the Mistvale had bestowed on her the secret to agelessness. The figure looked back at her, and she turned away just a little too quickly, feigning ignorance. It was a dragonborn, yellow and white scales and a pointed snout, wearing a red patterned tunic and with a packed rucksack on its back and a staff in one hand, heavily weighed down by the pack's contents. She tried to recall the name of their former companion, and remembered he was Auraj Garmth, a travelling merchant who could spot an opportunity for business in any situation. She knew this couldn't be him, though. Willow had no clue what might have happened to the wily salesman, but even if he'd lived to a ripe old age he would still be many years in his grave by now.

Looking away, she could see the dragonborn had spotted her, and had now started moving towards her. She busied herself with the rope on the stall in front of her, examining it as if checking for quality, when she heard a guttural voice addressing her.

"You look familiar, yes? Someone heard but never seen. You know Jarua, yes?"

Willow realised she hadn't in fact seen this same dragonborn, this 'Jarua', before, but there was still something about him that she recognised. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. I don't think we've met."

"No, we no meet, but meet now, yes? You remind Jarua of story from long ago. Pretty girl with pretty hair, yes?"

"I... don't know what you mean." Willow was starting to get slightly uncomfortable here, and turned back to the stall, only to find a scaly clawed hand gently touch her shoulder. She turned back to Jarua. "Look..."

"Grandfather of Jarua, he told stories, yes? Told many stories to brood, told story of red hair lady and angry dwarf and red hat thief and..."

"Wait, did you just say what I think you said?" She recognised all of those descriptions, and the pieces were starting to come together...

"It depends what you think Jarua said, pretty girl..." He looked at her and paused, frowning slightly. "You look just like girl from story. But girl would be dead many years now, yes?"

"Jarua..." Willow hesitated, not sure if her question was the right one to ask, but pressed on. "What was your grandfather's name?"

He jumped with glee, and said quickly, "Grandfather was Auraj, pretty girl. Auraj Garmth is name of grandfather, yes?" At this, Jarua looked at Willow more intently, as if trying to fathom just how she could be living after so many years.

"I... I remember him. Auraj... we travelled for a while. Whatever stories he told you... they're true. They have to be true." As she spoke, Willow noticed Rob, Lionel and Corryn browsing another stall nearby. Kristoph was a distance away, closer to the tavern, but caught her eye as she beckoned the others across. "Everyone, come over here a second! There's someone you have to meet."

As a group, they all turned up at the climbing equipment stall, uncertain what was happening. Rob, however, had a glimmer of familiarity in his eyes, although like Willow he didn't seem quite able to put his finger on who this strange person was.

"Guys, years ago Rob and I travelled together for a while with another group, and we knew a dragonborn called Auraj Garmth. This is his grandson, Jarua."

Corryn, naturally, was the first to move forward and extend a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Corryn, and these are Kristoph and Lionel," pointing to each of the group in turn.

"Ah, pleasure indeed, more friends, more customers, yes?" Jarua took Corryn's hand and shook it warmly, looking him deep in the eyes. Corryn looked back, slightly confused.

"What exactly... do you mean by 'customers'?"

"I represent Auraj Prime, yes? Grandfather's business, very good. We sell useful items to travellers, always available wherever you go. We find you, you order from one of us and we find you and give you items, like mail order. Grandfather set it up, many years ago."

As he explained the nature of Auraj Prime, essentially a mail order service to pre-buy important and useful equipment, the cogs in Willow's head started turning. True, she always tried to be a good person, but nobody ever said that being good meant she had to follow all the rules. She could spot a golden opportunity here, and she was determined to make best use of it. Surely there was no way Jarua could know that after their group disbanded, Willow had never seen Auraj again. He told stories about her, and their friends – maybe she could take advantage of that.

"He finally got it off the ground then, did he? Did he happen to mention when he was going to pay me back?"

Jarua turned to Willow at this, cutting short his extended advertisement to the party for the various wares he had to sell. "Jarua does not understand...?"

She pressed on, "Oh, he was always talking about Auraj Prime. It was his dream, he said, when we were in the middle of a cavern knee deep in kobolds he'd be blathering on about Auraj Prime and how he was going to make a fortune and be a great entrepreneur. He didn't quite have enough money to start it up though, so..."

She paused, for maximum effect, until Jarua piped up, "So, so?"

"So I agreed to lend him some start-up money. An investment. Not a lot, just 500 gold pieces, and he promised he'd return it ten times as much."

It was a long shot, and of course there was no way Jarua would have anything near that amount of money on him. It was a small fortune, but Willow had always figured, either go big or go home. If she could get just a small amount of cash from Jarua it would be a big help. She was really manipulating the poor creature, she knew, and she felt sort of bad about it. But she needed money if she wanted to stock up and be prepared for whatever the Wish Seekers might throw at her, and Jarua would soon earn it all back and more, if Auraj Prime was as successful as he had been saying it was.

"Jarua is uncertain... I not hear this from Grandfather," he replied, somewhat suspicious. Of course, it had been a mistake to ask for quite so much. "Jarua have money but not enough, cannot pay if true. But I have something else Jarua can give you..." He reached into his rucksack, and rummaged around a little bit, before pulling out a stoppered glass bottle, containing a pale green liquid with the consistency of slightly thick water.

"You take, yes? I give you Monk's Mixture!"

Slightly annoyed that her attempted scam had seemingly failed, Willow reached out a tentative hand, and took the bottle from Jarua. She removed the stopper delicately, and sniffed inside. It had a sweet smell, like overripe fruit. She put the stopper back in place, and asked what it was.

"Monk's Mixture is perfect for a weary monk! When you use up all your chi to fight you can regain your energy with a bottle of Mixture! Makes you fight more and longer, yes?"

She had to concede, it was a very useful item to have, and stowed it away in her own bag for future use. Who knew, maybe it would come in very handy at some point. As she did so, the others decided to each buy a few items themselves, with a promise that a representative of Auraj Prime would soon find them within a day and deliver their goods directly to them. With a cheery wave, Jarua turned away and wandered off, leaving the group to their own devices.

* * *

With all their shopping done for now, it was finally time to head inside the tavern. The market and tavern actually shared the same area, a decent sized public plaza with a road on the eastern side running alongside a river and the tavern taking up nearly all of the northern edge. Inside, they saw a set of stairs to the left leading to what they assumed were guest rooms, and the bar and back rooms directly in front of them. There were tables all around, with a circular table and chairs in the centre of the room at one end of the bar. The room continued in a sort of L shape with further tables, and a more open space, and to the right hand side from the entrance was a lounge area with soft cushioned armchairs and an open fireplace. The fire was crackling just a bit, as the weather wasn't too hot, but not too cold either. All around, patrons of the bar were standing or sitting, chatting over food and ale and generally paying little attention if any to the newcomers.

Upon entering, Rob immediately headed for the bar, as if any of the others had any doubts that he would have done so. In response, Kristoph and Corryn decided to grab a table not too close but not too far from the centre, all the better to pick up any news or gossip from around the room, while Lionel headed to join Rob in getting some drinks. Willow, however, had already spotted another opportunity with the currently-empty circular table in the centre.

Stashed away in her bag just happened to be a deck of playing cards. She had originally bought them from a roadside trading post back when she first met Rob and the old crowd, ostensibly to amuse herself on her travels when trying to avoid talking to her companions. A lot had changed since then, and she'd already resolved that before the Wish Seekers arrived she would tell the group her whole story, but long ago she had been a lot less open and a lot more reserved. A deck of cards made for the perfect distraction, but over time she had started to learn more tricks and games and eventually it had become a useful tool to help gather funds simply to survive on her own on the road. She knew every single card in that deck by feel alone, with how much she had used them and played with them, recognising each one by the texture on the face and the pattern of fraying on the edges. Some were still in decent condition, while others were more weathered, but although cheating had never been the intention it was now incredibly easy for Willow to take full advantage of the nature of her battered deck.

She sat down, and pulled out the deck, gave it a quick shuffle, and started dealing cards in front of her. The aim wasn't to distract anyone, but rather to allow others to notice she had a set of cards and let them come to her. In places like this, any sort of entertainment was welcome, and soon enough a rather portly older gentleman in travelling gear sat down opposite her.

"Nice deck you have there. You play much blackjack?"

She smiled at this, inwardly, while letting no trace of emotion pass her face. Blackjack was an old favourite of hers, and exceptionally easy to use her cheater's deck to its full capabilities.

"A little. Fancy it?"

The gentleman smiled directly at her, and accepted the challenge. She dealt a number of cards to both herself and her new acquaintance, two apiece, and instantly knew precisely which cards she had dealt. Her opponent had a seven and a nine in front of him, both face up and visible, a decent enough hand, but not one that he was certain to win. She had a face up seven, but the real trick was being able to tell just what was her face down card as dealer. As she placed it down on the table, she brushed her hand lightly against the back, and knew immediately that she had the ten of spades. She gave nothing away, remaining stoic and serious, as the gentleman opposite her deliberated for longer than seemed necessary over whether or not to stand. Eventually, he came to a decision.

"Hit me."

As soon as Willow's hand touched the deck she could tell whether his decision had been a good one, or a bad one. She turned another card over, and placed it face up in front of him. His eyes widened... as she revealed a ten of hearts.

"Twenty-six. Sorry, you lose that round." She smiled a cat-like smile, teeth barely showing but pointed just enough to intimidate while pleasant enough to still look cute, and challenged him to another round.

They continued playing like this for the next ten minutes or so, and in all fairness were quite evenly matched, although the advantage lent by Willow's knowledge of her cards did tip the balance in her favour and let her win a few more hands than she otherwise should have. It was at this point she started losing a few games on purpose, to give her foe a sense of having a lucky run, before finally suggesting they raise the stakes a little.

"This has all been fun," she said, "but it's not really thrilling enough. How about we have a little wager, hmm?"

On hearing this suggestion, the gentleman's eyes shot up and met Willow's gaze. He considered, for a minute or so, before responding, "I'm sorry. It's certainly been an entertaining session, but I'll have to pass on the gamble. I learned long ago, miss, to never bet on something that isn't a sure outcome. Thank you though, for the game."

And with that, he gathered his things and left, heading back out towards the market.

Somewhat annoyed that she'd missed any chance to earn a few gold pieces, Willow started to gather up the cards on the table, when she heard a quiet voice from behind. "If your offer of a wager is still open, I'd like to take you up on that."

She turned her head, to see a young man wearing a journeyman's clothing, a black cloak and hood, and a sort of mask across his eyes, similar to a carnival mask. He was clutching a money bag that seemed to jingle with coin every time he moved his hand. "I saw how well you played against the old timer. I'm always after a challenge, and I'm somewhat convinced you can provide that for me. You interested?"

Without waiting for an answer, the young man sat down opposite Willow and placed the bag on the table. He glanced over to the bartender, and flicked across two golden coins from the bag, tilting his head towards both himself and the monk with the deck of cards. Within seconds, two tankards of ale were poured and brought across to the pair, and the man raised his own in a mock salute before beginning to drink.

"The name's Devin. And yourself?"

"Willow. And before you ask, I don't talk much about myself to strangers. Except that I don't usually drink ale. I much prefer strong firewhisky. But I suppose this'll do." And with that, she tilted her head with a mocking grin, raised her own tankard, and returned the salute before drinking just as deeply as Devin had. "Question for you. What's with the mask?"

"Well," he replied, "a man has to keep some element of mystery about him, right?"

"A mysterious stranger. How quaint. And you're sitting here, with a mysterious mask and a mysterious bag of gold. Not the most trustworthy, I think."

Devin smiled. "I never said I was trustworthy. But I'm up for a game, and I'm happy to place a few bets. A mysterious man against a cheat's deck. Challenging enough?"

Willow could barely suppress the gasp, only just hiding her shock. He must have been watching her as she played, and looking more closely than the old man had. Still, she had wanted a challenge, and money earned from someone else who knew the score was always more satisfying than money essentially robbed from the gullible. It would have been a lot more unfair to continue playing with the older opponent, whereas Devin would prove much more worthy of her time. She started to shuffle, dealing out as she kept a perfect poker face. He may know her tricks, but she wasn't about to make it easy for him.

They played a few rounds, betting each time, handfuls of gold here and there, but soon enough the odds proved to be stacked firmly in Willow's favour, and despite Devin knowing her secret she was able to earn a good hundred gold pieces from him. Not a massive amount by any means, and certainly not enough to break the bank, but at least it would buy her a couple of healing potions for emergencies. Knowing he was losing a decent amount of money, Devin decided to end things there, and drained the rest of his tankard, looking Willow directly in the eyes.

"You don't talk much, do you?"

She glanced at him and met his gaze. "I don't trust very easily. Although, I have to wonder..."

"...yes?"

"Just how long were you watching me, to spot the trick in the deck?"

Devin laughed a little, and replied, "Long enough. I have to say, Willow. You... intrigue me."

She held his gaze, and responded rather incredulously, "If that's your attempt at flirting, I'd say it needs a lot of work."

"Heh. It wasn't meant that way. No offence, but you're not exactly my type. Much prefer blondes."

Willow wasn't quite sure whether or not to be offended, but it didn't matter too much. She didn't mind, since it wasn't as if Devin was her type either. When it came to men she was more a fan of the muscular stoic type, whereas for women she preferred the agile, slim and lithe sort, though ideally quirky and slightly mad. In a good way, of course. After a hundred years she'd decided not to be too fussy when it came to gender, or even species, provided they were humanoid, although she had to admit she'd been with a tad more women than men. Maybe just personal preference. It didn't hurt anyone, after all.

"Anyhow, what I mean is, there's certainly more to you than meets the eye. You look, how shall I put it, rather unassuming. But there's more under the surface. A lot more."

She stayed silent. She wasn't entirely certain that she liked the analysis from Devin, not for the analysis itself, but more for how close it was to the truth. He drained the rest of his tankard, stood, and gathered his things.

"I'll leave you to it for now. Although, I will give you this advice. Pretty much everyone in this tavern is a potential Wish Seeker. You, and your friends..." (and here he gestured across to the others, closer to the fire) "...may want to keep your eyes and ears open. Don't trust anyone."

Before he could leave, Willow responded. "Then why exactly should I trust you?"

He smiled, and swept his arms across in a low mock bow, as he walked backwards to his own team and their table near the back of the room. "Whoever said that you should?"

* * *

A few hours later, the tavern had become much quieter, with groups heading outside to unknown tasks, or retreating to their rooms upstairs. For a brief time, Willow had sat with her recently new allies, but by now she had taken up her solitary seat at the circular table once more, wanting to spend a bit of time alone, as the others sat drinking and laughing around the fire. The bar was mostly empty otherwise, with just a few hangers-on still nursing their tankards at tables around the corner. She was playing solo games with her cards, trying to distract herself from the memories of long ago, but not quite ready to share the laughter of the rest of her group. Kaylessa still hadn't turned up, though it wasn't something that bothered Willow all too much. She'd soon find her way here, assuming she hadn't been arrested, and if she had, well, perhaps prison would be the best place for her to keep her in check.

While Willow proceeded to lose herself in thought, she noticed the front door open, and a well-built man stepped over the threshold, surveying the room. He looked young enough, perhaps somewhere in his early thirties, and was clad in spiked armour and carrying at his side a pair of double-headed axes, hanging loosely by their strings to his belt. He had a thick set face, rugged but handsome in a way, and short blond hair bunched up on the top. He looked fierce, but with a caring air about him, and immediately Willow thought to herself, 'now this is someone who's my type', recalling her previous conversation with Devin.

As the man entered, he moved to the side, still looking around as if scouting for someone or something. Right behind him, a young woman walked inside, seemingly no older than perhaps her mid-twenties. She was slim, and wearing a white and yellow cloak, with a dark shirt and tight leather leggings, brown boots up to her knees, and a longbow and quiver at her back. She was incredibly pretty, in an elfin sort of way, although Willow could see she was very definitely human. Her face was round and cute, and her hair almost pure silver, flowing down to her shoulders, past her ears which were adorned with blue pearl earrings. Even from a distance, Willow could see her eyes were also a deep shade of blue, and as she walked into the room Willow was instantly drawn to the girl, in a way that she had never felt before. All thoughts of the well-built man were pushed aside, as she stared at the newcomer, unable to tear away her gaze. Willow couldn't understand it, but it was almost as if something was pulling her, some primal instinct that she couldn't control.

Looking around just as the man had done, the new arrival surveyed their surroundings, until she happened to see Willow staring. Quickly, Willow turned her head away, embarrassed, and busied herself with her cards, shuffling them and starting to deal a solitaire game as she had before. Swiftly, the woman crossed the room, aiming straight for the round table where Willow was seated, and placed herself down at an empty chair right next to the monk. She swivelled around, facing Willow, and smiled. "Is this seat taken?"

All Willow could do was stare blankly, uncertain of what to actually say. She stammered out, "Um, no, it's… it's fine. Go ahead."

"Great. Thanks!" The girl stayed seated, and kept her eyes on Willow. She tilted her head to one side, and called out, "Burigar! I think we've found them."

Before Willow could react, the well-built man walked across and joined them at the table, though he chose not to take a seat, instead leaning against the bar. He didn't even need to ask before two tankards were filled and passed across, though noticeably he didn't hand over any money. He gave one tankard to the girl at the table, while keeping the other for himself. Taking a long gulp of ale, he looked across at the others nearer to the fire.

"Now, I might be wrong here, but I'm thinking you have a letter on you, yes?" The girl continued to watch Willow, but with a more quizzical look on her face, though the smile didn't falter even for a second.

"Um… does it matter? I'm not sure it's any of your business."

The smile widened. "Oh, I can guarantee it's my business, Miss Clearwater."

This, if nothing previously was enough, set alarm bells ringing. Willow was on the verge of pulling out her quarterstaff and making a swift exit, Devin's words about trust still fresh in her mind, when she hesitated. Why was it that everyone around here seemed to either know who she was, or be able to read her so well? The answer to the first question, at least as far as these people were concerned, came quickly. "You might want to call your friends over here. My colleague and I… have a lot to discuss with you all."

* * *

They all sat around the table, with the mysterious girl immediately to the right of Willow, Corryn on the left, and continuing round. Lionel, Kristoph, Rob. The man with the muscles remained standing, leaning against the bar, although the bartender had by now made his way further along to the other end, out of clear earshot. He seemed to defer to these two, they noticed.

"I'm sorry about the lack of information so far, but we have to remain somewhat discreet," the girl said, addressing the table. "We're part of an organisation that, while not exactly secret, certainly doesn't want our actual secrets to fall into the wrong hands."

"And would this organisation be named the 'Wish Seekers', by any chance?" Corryn asked.

She looked across at him. "Precisely. My name is Gale, and this here is Burigar."

Burigar raised his tankard, refilled, in a mock salute to acknowledge her, and said nothing.

"We're what you would call... mediators, I suppose. We each run a branch of the group, managing several teams. There are four others. Arcine, Fera, Sigrun, and Vanidus."

Corryn raised a hand, and paused her. "That's all well and good, but we're still in the dark. You've not explained exactly who the Wish Seekers are."

"I was just getting to that," Gale replied. "You should all have a letter, yes?"

"Which tell us nothing. They ask us to come here, on this day, to join the Wish Seekers, but nothing else."

"Which is the point. The letters were sent because each of you, or someone connected to you, came into contact with the Wish Seekers at some point in your lives, and at that point you were tapped for recruitment. Whether or not you are the right type of people to join us, well, that depends on you."

Before Corryn could interject any further, Burigar stepped in. "We know you. All of you. Even though we may have never met before, we know things about each of you that demonstrate we've been watching for a long time. Waiting until the right moment, the right time of your lives or careers, to ask you to join us. Waiting for the right skill set."

He looked at each of them in turn. "Corryn Sabrae. A private detective, but much more than that. A member of the Argent Shroud, and dedicated to protecting the freedom and liberty of the people of this continent.

"Lionel Grey. You once were a respected member of the Church of Icuriel, and devoted yourself to worship and the protection of the innocent. Yet when you discovered the corruption inherent in the Church, you turned away from them and abandoned their hallowed halls, to make your own way in the world and remain true to your beliefs.

"Kristoph Zeichnung. You believe yourself to be just another ordinary wood elf, raised in a forest and drifting daily throughout your life. But you could be so much more than that, if given the chance.

"Rob Macliuthar. Wandering aimlessly, always in search of the next opponent to fight or the next ale to drink. You've stumbled your way through hundreds of years of life, always drunk and always in combat, but without a purpose. We can give you that purpose, if you can prove yourself.

"Kaylessa Silverleaf. She may not be here, but she has great purpose in herself. Seeking vengeance for a murdered mother, and seeking power no matter the cost. A risky choice to join our great cause, but her talents should not be wasted, and she may prove to be one of the greatest weapons of all."

At this, Burigar fell silent, and it was Gale's turn to speak. She looked once more at Willow, directly into the young monk's eyes, Gale's blue to Willow's green. "And now we come to you. Willow Clearwater. A family of rangers, protecting their land and neighbours, slaughtered, leaving you as the only survivor. Raised from the age of eight by monks in the next valley over, desperate to avenge your family's deaths. Eventually you got that revenge, and the monks taught you how to stop ageing, keeping you forever young. You've spent a hundred years travelling, never staying in one place for long, doing what you can to help the less fortunate then leaving before roots can be planted. Maybe this is where you could finally settle."

She stopped, suddenly. She could see in Willow's eyes, tears beginning to form, and reached out, gently placing a hand on the monk's shoulder. Willow glanced up at her. "How do you know all of this? About me? About any of us?"

Gale couldn't answer. Instead, Burigar took over. "We've been watching you all for a long time now. Some longer than others. The seeds of today were planted a very long time ago, a long way from here. Myself and Gale are too young to know the full story, as told by our predecessors, but cast your mind back if you can, to a century ago. The island of Simula. Do you recall?"

Willow said nothing. She was struggling to focus, although she knew precisely what Burigar was talking about, she couldn't bring herself to speak for fear of letting out a sob, too caught up in the memories of her own past. She had spent almost her entire life trying to maintain a cold, stoic demeanour, never allowing emotion or sentiment cloud her way of thinking, never allowing herself to feel anything beyond the most basic friendly acquaintance, out of fear of loving someone and losing them the same way she had lost her family. Only now, in the past few days, had she begun to allow herself to feel again, after seeing Rob and realising how much she had missed her old travelling companions. How much she had considered them as friends, even if it didn't seem that way at the time.

To spare her from having to say anything, in a rare moment of clarity, Rob spoke up instead. "Aye. Ah remember back then." He went on, explaining just why they had teamed up so long ago, and what could have brought the Wish Seekers to their door.

"There were six of us then. Much like now, actually. Me, the poor wee lass here, and four others. Auraj Garmth, we met his wee grandson earlier. A thief called Cerys Lovelock, some princess or other called Myvanna Silverleaf, reckon she was part elf or something. And another wood elf like the green'un here. Ailduin Leandre. Don't know much about 'em, don't care to. Anyhow, we all answered some advert from a guy, name of Cyrus. He wanted us to go and track down an old buddy of his, a hobgoblin, called Ontrid or something, and pick up a letter. We did that, got in a few fights along the way, and found this Ontrid person holed up in a tavern by the coast. We ask for the letter, and lo and behold, Cyrus walks in and blasts 'im. Turns out, Ontrid was hiding from Cyrus, guy wanted to kill 'im. We were just there to find him on Cyrus's behalf, since he'd never have come out of hiding for that devil. Then he turns on us, tries to eliminate the witnesses. We fought 'im, we killed 'im, then Ontrid calls us over. Turns out he's not dead yet. Gives us a sealed envelope, says to hold on to it, and his people would be likely calling after us to join 'em soon. Then the poor bugger dies, just like that. We di'nt know wha' to do wi' the envelope, so Ailduin took it. Last I heard when we all split up, Cerys had nicked it off 'im then bloody ran away. God knows what happened to them all after that. I just went and got pissed and did mah own thing for years."

"A succinct summary," said Burigar. "And quite close to the mark. But missing a few key details, things that weren't apparent to you all at the time."

"Things like... what?" said Corryn.

"Ontrid was one of us. A Wish Seeker. This organisation has been around a lot longer than you know."

"The envelope didn't just contain a letter," Gale interjected, looking around the table. "It had a map. One that we need, and one that hasn't been seen for a long time..." At this, she was careful to avoid Burigar's eye, instead giving a sideways glance to Willow that no-one but the young monk noticed.

"Indeed," Burigar continued. "And therein lies the purpose of the Wish Seekers. Our task is to locate something, or someone, called the Wish Granter. What, or who, that could be, we don't know. We know nothing about it, save that if it exists, it can grant any wish, to anyone, without limits."

"A lot of people have speculated in the past about the Wish Granter," said Gale, "but we're the first group to ever dedicate ourselves, for more than a century, to finding it. We all have different ideas on what to do with it. Some want to use it, some feel it's unsafe to ever use, some want to study it, some even want to destroy it. Our job isn't to decide what to do with it, that can be debated later. We just want to find it first, and it can't be done alone. Hence the founding of this organisation."

Silence fell around the table. Everyone took a moment to ponder the implications, each in their own way, and to consider just what they would do if they ever had the power of the Wish Granter, assuming it even existed. Lionel was the first to break the silence.

"This is all well and good, but how does a story from a hundred years ago relate to us here now?"

Burigar explained, "You all have a connection to those people. Rob, Willow, you were there yourselves. Your companion, Kaylessa, is the daughter of one of them, the half elf Myvanna. We're not certain ourselves how the rest of you are connected to those people, but suffice to say there is a link somewhere, and that's all we need."

Gale continued, "Letters of invitation can be inherited. If the person who is to receive one disappears, or dies, then it gets passed down the line, until it reaches someone. The invitation doesn't guarantee you'll become one of us. That's what the initiation is for."

"And what would this initiation entail, exactly?" said Lionel.

"Ah, now that would depend on the mediator," replied Gale. "We've been chosen to speak to you because of the, let's say, morals that have guided you so far. We all have our own outlook on life, and it was decided that we likely suited you all best."

"For now, your task is simple," Burigar continued. "You need to decide which of us you wish to work with. We can't linger here too long, but once your decision is made, let us know, and tomorrow we will meet again and explain what the initiation requires."

"We'll give you a few minutes to discuss amongst yourselves, and make a choice," said Gale. "If that's okay." Without waiting for an answer, she got up, picked up her tankard, and walked across to a small table in the far corner of the room, with Burigar in tow. The others looked at each other.

"Well," said Corryn, "who shall we pick?"

They all stayed silent for a moment, before Lionel spoke up. "The question is, do we trust either of them?" This caused a slight stir around the table. "Think about it. They know so much about all of us, yet we know nothing about them."

"Ah, but they were right, ye know," said Rob. "They knew all that stuff from the past. And the rest of ya's didnae know him, but that Ontrid fellow didn't seem like the bad sort."

Now Kristoph entered the debate. "I'm not sure it's a question of whether to trust them. If they're helping and not hurting us then we can't really go wrong."

"But they've not helped us so far," replied Lionel.

"No?" Kristoph turned to him. "They've explained a lot more now than we knew to begin with, and I don't feel like there's any danger here. Maybe we can trust them."

Silence fell, and the others all thought about the situation to themselves, but nobody dared to say a word. It was clear that even if they decided to trust these strangers, they certainly wouldn't be able to decide who to team up with. "Perhaps we should see who between the two of them would most like to work with us," Corryn suggested.

"Can I say something?" Willow, up until this point, had been quiet, remaining in the background. In fact, she'd barely said a word since the assessment of her personal history. Now, once more composed, it was her turn to speak. "For me, it's not a question of trust. I've gone my whole life not trusting people. Some would say that's a fault. But it's never stopped me working with others. I may not trust some people, I may not even like them, but whenever I've needed to team up with anyone, I've been willing to do so. Because I'm not a fool. I don't feel like any of this would be a bad thing, because whether we trust them or not, it's pretty clear these two are on the right side of things.

"And more to the point, I do trust them. I don't know why, but there's something about them. Maybe I'm not a great judge of character, I don't know. But I feel like these two are the right sort of people for us."

There was a brief pause, before Corryn asked her directly, "So, Willow. If we're going to work with them, who do you think we should choose?"

She paused, momentarily, before saying, "Gale." Her eyes shone briefly, something only Corryn noticed, a sort of glow about her, before she continued. "There's just something about her... I can't explain. But I feel like, if we're going to choose anyone, it should be her." She blushed a little, and turned away, looking across at the pair in the corner and making sure the others couldn't see the flush that was now starting to burn her cheeks.

Corryn turned back to the others. "Are we all in agreement?" The group each nodded and grunted their assent, and the decision became confirmed. Kaylessa, of course, being away, would have no say, but she would arrive later to discover what the group had decided. As he was facing the two mediators in the corner, Kristoph raised his hand, and beckoned them back over.

"We've made our decision," he said as the two returned. "And we've decided to go with Gale."

At this, Gale nodded her own agreement, as Burigar stood back. "Very well," he said. "A fine choice. I'll take my leave then, although I'm sure we'll also be seeing each other much in the coming weeks." With that, he finished the last of his ale, set the tankard down on the bar, and left.

Gale stepped forward, behind the chair she had previously occupied, but didn't sit down. "Thank you," she said, "I promise I won't let you down. And I hope you can promise me the same."

Around the table the group all agreed, and she continued. "I can't stay much longer, there's a meeting between the mediators elsewhere in the city. Planning and strategy. I will say this, if you'd gone with Burigar you'd be staying in his rather comfortable mansion on the edge of town, but since you're with me you'll be staying here. There are plenty of rooms, the Wish Seekers own the tavern so it's become my own base of operations. There's just one more thing for you tonight. The choice is down to you again, but you'll need to pick a team leader."

The group looked around the table, and Lionel said "A leader? As in, someone to give the orders?"

"Oh, no, nothing quite so formal. More like a representative. Someone who will liaise with me, make any important decisions for the group, that sort of thing. A supervisor, I suppose you could say."

As soon as Gale mentioned being a liaison with her, Willow's heart jumped forward a beat. She didn't even understand why, everything felt so new and different to her, but upon seeing everyone else hesitate, she took the initiative and raised her own hand. "I'd... like to volunteer. If that's alright with you all."

A few seconds passed, and nobody disagreed. Corryn was the first to give his agreement, followed swiftly by Kristoph, and the other two immediately after him. The decision seemed unanimous, and Willow was silently grateful that Kaylessa wasn't here, since there could be no doubt the young warlock would have instantly nominated herself for just the tiniest fragment of power and authority that the role would give her. Gale looked across, and smiled at Willow.

"Excellent. In that case, our business tonight is concluded. I'd advise you all get a good night's sleep, and I'll see you here tomorrow morning at nine." With that, Gale gave Willow a brief squeeze on the shoulder, nodded to the others, and walked towards the door.

In an instant, Willow realised something. She still had the deck of cards that she had been playing with earlier, and it was completely shuffled in her cloak pocket. She reached inside and felt through the cards, searching for the one card she needed. She didn't need to look at them, recognising each one by touch alone, and soon pulled out the one she was after. She called out, "Gale, hold on a second," and as the young woman stopped and turned right next to the door, Willow flicked the card towards her.

It travelled across the room in a perfect arc, as if guided by some unseen force, and Gale deftly reached out and plucked it from the air. The card itself didn't look too battered, in fact it looked relatively new, but that wasn't the point. She turned it around, and saw a face and suit. The Queen of Hearts.

She glanced up at Willow, who gave a relatively coy smile, and a cheeky wink. It was the same flirtatious look Willow had used many times before over the years, to varying degrees of success, but even now she couldn't be quite sure why she'd sent the card as well. The significance of it, the hearts suit, was lost to her, but maybe she knew deep down. Still, it had the desired effect, or so she thought. Gale returned the smile, and gave a playful look in return, poking her tongue out just a little, almost like a cat. She put the card in her own pocket, and left the tavern, closing the door behind her.

"So, what was all that about?" Corryn looked across at Willow, a mildly amused expression on his face. The others, however, were just baffled.

"I really couldn't say," she replied, not meeting his eye. With that, and leaving behind the confused stares of the rest of the group, she picked up her things, and went up the stairs to find a room in which to sleep. The others followed soon after, each picking their own rooms, and they all rested, considering to themselves the initiation to come, and what the morning would bring.


	3. Chapter Three - Crystal Castles

By morning, the five who had arrived in the tavern in Centralis had now become six. They had been joined by Kaylessa the night before, after most had gone to bed, and greeted by Lionel and Kristoph who had decided to share a nightcap first.

Her evening had not been quite as pleasant as she would have hoped. She'd been surprised and angered to wake up inside a Watch cell, and it had taken severe self-restraint to avoid using her magical abilities to burn down the entire building and make an escape. Only when she'd realised she was, in fact, alone in the cell, had Kaylessa decided to wait and try to understand where the others could have been. Calling out to the guards for an explanation, she wasn't too happy to discover the questioning and release of the rest of the group earlier in the day. She was even less impressed to find that the cell door had in fact been unlocked, and she could have simply walked out without hassle at any point.

Feeling this to be a waste of time, Kaylessa had then made her way across town to the tavern, where she came across the only two members to still be awake. They explained everything that had happened, starting with the arrival at the Watch House and culminating in Willow's acceptance as team leader under Gale, which only served to irritate the young warlock even further.

"Who does she think she is? Presumptuous little cow, thinking she can give orders..."

"Look, it's as we said," replied Kristoph, with an exasperated tone. "It's not like that. She's more of a liaison, if you want to think of it that way."

"I don't give a damn what she wants to call herself. I'm not taking orders from her, got that?" Kaylessa almost seemed to be taking a personal offence to the appointment, although it was clear to Lionel that she was more angered at the fact that she hadn't had a chance to nominate herself, rather than a particular grievance against Willow.

"You won't be expected to," he said. "But you weren't here, and we had to make a decision. We can't be blamed for that."

Kaylessa tried to speak again, presumably to continue her verbal tirade against the monk, only to be stopped by Lionel's hand covering her mouth. "We're not discussing this any further. If you don't like it, tough. We meet here in the morning at nine. Now, I suggest you get some rest, although it would appear you had plenty of that during the day." Before she could fire back, Lionel had already walked away, followed swiftly by Kristoph up the stairs, leaving her alone in an empty bar.

* * *

At breakfast, the atmosphere seemed decidedly frosty wherever Kaylessa was concerned. While the others were all friendly enough, except for Willow who continued to keep a distance, it was obvious to everyone that the warlock was in a foul mood. Not only that, but she took every opportunity to glare viciously at the new team leader across the table, which did nothing to help resolve the tension between them.

As Willow stood at the bar, loading a second plate of eggs, bacon, sausages, and thick slabs of brown bread covered in dripping, she was joined by Lionel, who proceeded to do the same. "I can only apologise," he said quietly, shooting a quick look back to the circular table where the team had been sitting.

"What is her problem?" Willow took the opportunity to look as well, only to quickly turn her gaze to Lionel when she noticed another vengeful stare coming her way. "I've done nothing to her."

"Oh, but you have. Or at least, she sees it that way."

"I don't understand?"

Lionel turned to face his compatriot, and continued, "I know that girl, or at least her type. Better than she knows herself. She's the sort who clutches to anything that gives them even the slightest modicum of power, any hint of an authority over others. If she'd been here last night, she would have immediately made any play she could have to place herself above the rest of us. You nominated yourself as team leader, and we agreed. She would have done the same as you, and because she didn't, couldn't even, she's taking it out on you."

"But, she wasn't with us, she was still asleep. I can't be responsible for that..." Even as she said it, Willow realised that wasn't quite true. It had been her idea to leave Kaylessa behind, her idea to not wake her when they all stepped down from that carriage upon arriving in the city. Although there was no way that the other girl could know that... was there?

"If you don't want to eat with them, that's fine. We don't have to sit by her," said Lionel, sensing her discomfort. "Come, there's a table free near the fire. We can talk more there."

"Thanks," said Willow, "but to be honest I'd rather be alone."

"Nonsense. You've spent most of your time alone so far, and I'd like to talk. If we're going to be working together, then we can at least understand one another a bit better."

Without hesitation, he made his way across the room and claimed the small table near the fire, sitting down on one side and gesturing to the other small chair with a pointed look towards Willow. Reluctantly, she joined him, as it was either this, sit with total strangers, or return to the withering gaze of Kaylessa. If looks could kill...

"So, what do I call you? Because you're clearly a priest or something, going by that cloak. What is it, Cleric? Father? Or something else?"

"Just Lionel is fine by me. No need for formality among friends, and friendly acquaintances."

She looked at him now, as if for the first time properly. He was a grim-faced man, though not unfriendly, looking more as if the weight of the world had fallen upon his shoulders, and he carried it with a determined grace. He was somewhere in the middle of his life, but she couldn't quite guess an actual age. His hood was down, but he wore a hooded cloak of white with gold edging, marked with the symbol of the Church of Icuriel – the predominant religion on the continent of Higante, where Centralis was located. Grey, blue and gold-edged plate armour with an intricate pattern covered his torso, above a chain mail vest and rugged, worn, brown boots.

"Okay then," she asked, "what's your story?"

"There's not much to say, really," he replied. "You are right, though. I am a man of god. Not so much a man of the Church, these days, I fear."

"You lost faith?"

"Not in the way you'd think. I'm as devoted to Icuriel now as I ever have been. No, it was people I lost faith in."

"That's strange," Willow said. "You don't really strike me as a cynic. Trust me, I know what that's like," she continued, with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Please don't mistake me for one. I'm referring specifically to the people of the Church. I have the utmost faith in most people, of all description. Everywhere I go, I see small acts of kindness that remind me of my calling, and of how decent people can be when given the chance. But tell me. Do you know much about the Church?"

"Not a lot, in all honesty." Willow had been raised among monks, who placed much more value on inner strength and peace, and the pursuit of enlightenment, than on any physical god or goddess.

"You don't need to understand much about them to know that the Church of Icuriel has connections to a lot of people, and a lot of places. From politicians and royalty, to charitable foundations, to criminal syndicates, they operate in many spheres of influence. And this gives them great power." As he spoke, Lionel glanced back to the table, where his eyes rested momentarily on Kaylessa, as if she was again the subject of discussion. He looked back at Willow.

"Let me guess," she said. "Power corrupts?"

"Indeed, and the more power one has, the greater the corruption. I joined the Church as a naive, somewhat idealistic boy. It wasn't long before I saw what others refused to see, or else were complicit with." He paused, and sighed.

"Were you never tempted?"

"I was. I'm only human, after all. Eventually, I saw only two options. Stay, and be drawn in and betray everything I had ever believed in. Or stay true to my convictions, leave, and do whatever good I could for others on the road, spreading the holy word as a lay preacher. I chose the latter, and I've never regretted it."

They sat in silence for a few more moments, thinking and eating. Soon, Lionel spoke up. "I've told you my tale. What of yours?"

Willow looked into his eyes, and held his gaze, before replying. "Sorry, preacher man. I want to let people in. I really do. And I've spent so long pushing people away, that it's become second nature to me. I just don't think I'm quite ready yet."

He gave a resigned nod, and gathered his empty plate, standing up. "I understand. The others know all this, we shared a lot last night around the fire. If you ever wish to talk, I'm always ready to listen. If you need time, well, that's fine too. But please. Don't feel as if you can't trust us. You're not alone any more." And before she could answer, he was already making his way back to the round table, leaving her to her own thoughts.

* * *

As Lionel returned to the table, he noticed that trouble was on the horizon. It appeared that during his momentary absence, Kaylessa had attempted to eavesdrop on the conversations of the groups around them, as she could no longer throw insults and dirty looks at a girl who wasn't present.

"Unbreakable, they claim..." At the bar, a rather large man with an axe attached to his belt on one side and a spiked shield on the other, was talking to a much smaller person, a gnome wearing a horned helmet. "Legend says the armour was forged centuries ago, lost when the camp was abandoned..."

Nearer to the main door, another set of voices spoke of a powerful archfey called the 'Dagda', which had aroused interest from Kaylessa more than anything else. She had attempted to move closer, to overhear more, when she knocked into the larger man from the bar who had mentioned the powerful armour. The result had been a tray of tankards clattering to the floor, with ale spilling everywhere. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, piss off," came the reply from the warlock, whose sour mood had not improved. She stared up at the man, who was easily a couple of feet taller than her, and her body language was daring him to strike. Before anyone could move, Corryn leapt to his feet.

"She meant nothing, let's just all forget this happened, alright?" He acted swiftly, and was half dragging, half cajoling Kaylessa, to retreat and sit back down. The large man stared at her until she was back in her seat, and even afterwards continued to steal glances to ensure she didn't try anything else. As Lionel rejoined them, the tension in the air was thick enough to carve with a butcher's knife. He looked across to Corryn, who shook his head and said nothing.

Nine o'clock came, and the crowded bar became much less so, as one by one teams of Wish Seekers left to attend to their own tasks, return to their own mediators, or simply head back to wherever they were normally based. Only a handful of people remained, including Devin, sat with his own team in a corner (he raised his tankard in a mock salute upon spotting Willow near the fire), and of course the barkeep himself. Realising the time was approaching for Gale to arrive, Willow stood and returned to the others, eliciting another glare from Kaylessa as she sat down. A few moments later, the main doors opened, and a familiar young woman with silver hair stepped inside, closing the door behind her and making her way directly to the round table.

"Morning all," said Gale, taking the only available chair which happened to be between Rob and Kristoph. "Sleep well?" Her query was met with a general murmur, from nearly everyone, with Kaylessa remaining in sullen silence.

"Ah, the prodigal one returns. Did the group fill you in on what we discussed last night?"

A grunt, and then, reluctantly, "...yes." That was enough to satisfy Gale, who could easily see any further questions would simply be rebuffed. Instead, she moved on to the task in hand.

"So, you're all here now. First things first, we need to prove that you're the type of people we want to bring in to the Wish Seekers. Make sure you have the right skill set and won't just die on us as soon as we send you on operations. Best way to do that is an initiation."

From her pack, she produced a map, which she rolled out on the table so everyone could see. Those who were reading it upside down craned their necks to get a better view, and Gale pointed out a couple of locations. "This is us, in Centralis. Over here," as she pointed to a small wooded area near a lake a couple of hours west of the city, "is your target. There's a large house that we've used as a ranging post in the past. For every two members of your team, you need to locate one crystal inside the house. Since there are six of you, that means three crystals, and you need to bring them back here before sunset. Simple enough, right?"

She looked around at the group, meeting each one's eyes in turn, keeping a perfect poker face. Every soul at the table knew there had to be more the task than Gale was letting on, but it was also clear that they would have to discover the twist for themselves. She wasn't giving anything away. "Any questions?" she asked.

"I have one. Will we be alone, or competing against anyone else in this task?" Corryn was the most inquisitive of the group, which made sense considering his background as a private detective. Gale turned to him, and her face became a mask of innocence.

"I really can't tell you. You'll just have to find that out when you get there."

They all knew the challenge wouldn't be as easy as it seemed, but despite their best efforts the group couldn't glean any further details from Gale. The only thing they did manage was to study the map, using the resources she was gifting them to determine exactly where they needed to go, and located an old track that led directly from the west gate of the city to the target site.

She stood, and looked over towards at a clock on the wall behind the bar, an old fashioned thing that showed the time to be half past nine already. "When you're done, just find me here, I'll be around all day. Better get moving, the clock is ticking."

Without a second glance, she retreated to another table with only a single seat against the wall, and began to read through reports and documents. The group looked at each other, and almost tripped over themselves in rushing out the door, knowing that time was of the essence, and eager to complete their first successful challenge.

* * *

Roughly two hours later, the party had finally lost sight of the city and were deep into the woods, making their way along a stream that weaved in and out between the trees and through a set of rocky gullies. Soon, the water started to disappear as the stream retreated underground, and all that was left was a narrow path leading south that went between two cliffs, hemming the group in and preventing anyone from getting past should they happen to run across anyone on the road. Above them, trees kept the sun hidden, though they could see where the path finally widened out further in as it turned towards the west.

Continuing along this trail, it was impossible to move as a group, with space for perhaps two or three at a time squeezing through. It was enough to wear on the nerves of the party, and eventually Willow had had enough. "Screw this. There has to be a better way."

"I don't see any other path, so unless you can walk on walls..." Corryn began.

"There's another way, with a lot more room, if you know where to look." With a sly smile, she sprang into the air and grabbed on to the western cliff face. It was only around six metres high, not far at all, but Willow deftly moved along the front of the wall, finding footholds and grips that the others couldn't even see. Not a single one of the group other than her could have made it up the cliff, but she had been born in the mountains and raised among the rocks and trees. Climbing was in her blood, a second nature for her, and this pitiful ascent was child's play. It helped too, that she wasn't dressed in the traditional robes of a monk, but instead wore a loose green shirt and trouser combination with a brown weathered traveller's cloak, free enough to give her full mobility as she climbed.

In sheer moments, she made it to the top and surveyed the area. It was a relatively narrow plateau covered in grass, with more gullies visible across the way, and trees to the south on the cliff edge. Further down, the path the group had been following opened up into a clearing and a wider route, as they exited the gorge. From here, the path turned west, and culminated in a large house on the edge of a fairly narrow river, and it was here that they had to go.

"We're not too far away," Willow called down. "Just around the next corner and a few hundred metres."

She took another look as the group moved forwards, as she crept along the top of the plateau. There was no way this could be so simple. She was naturally suspicious, a mild paranoia born of a hundred years of travel, and something didn't seem right. Sure enough, reaching the edge of the cliff further down, Willow spotted another group, four people making their way towards the clearing, and thus towards her own team.

She sprinted back, light footed so as not to make too much noise, and in a loud whisper called down to her comrades. "There are people coming, not sure if they're friend or foe." Before anyone could react, she moved quickly to the southern edge again and lay in wait, keeping an eye on the newcomers.

Reacting to the warning, Corryn quickly barked out instructions. He sent everyone into cover, moving fast to try and claim the space in the clearing before these interlopers could reach, and where the path opened up just a little there were trees and rocky outcrops that they could hide behind. Rob, unfortunately, was rather slow, and as the the others lay hiding in whatever cover they could grab, he was caught unaware trying to hide his wide and dumpy frame behind an incredibly thin sapling.

"Hold! Who goes there?" The other group, led by a large paladin covered helmet to toe in plate armour, wandered across to see Rob in plain view behind the young tree. Quick as a flash, he reacted as admirably as one would have expected from the dwarf.

"Ah, don't mind me, just takin' a leak behind this here bush...", he said. As the new arrivals watched in disbelief, he proceeded to place both arms around the tree, and start to shimmy up, as if he could get into the branches above (thin as they also were) and hide.

"Get down from there!" The leader shouted across, and gave a very pointed look towards the boulders and the other, thicker, trees in the area. "Anyone else around? Come on, I know this one can't be here alone!" A brief moment passed, with no movement from anyone. "You'd best show yourselves now, before I hurt the dwarf..."

Reluctantly, spurred by the threat against an ally, one by one the group emerged. First came Kristoph, followed by Corryn from behind a large boulder near the centre, then Lionel, and finally, only because the others had already done so, came Kaylessa. Everyone was now visible, except for Willow of course, still perched silently above them on the plateau and watching the events unfold below. She could see the leader clearly, with his helmet marked in blue swirls and tribal paint, carrying a massive iron shield that was almost the same height as Rob, and a large claymore in his left hand. It was impressive to behold, seeing this man carrying a two handed weapon in just a single grip.

"Any more?" A slight hesitation, and for a second Willow was concerned that Kaylessa would betray her position, but surprisingly the warlock stayed quiet. Her eyes met Willow's up on the cliff, but still she said nothing. It seemed that loyalty to the team outweighed any personal grudges, at least for the moment. "Very well. What business do you have here?"

"Private business," replied Corryn, taking charge for now. "We might ask you the same thing."

"And you'd get the same response," said the paladin. "We know why you're here. We saw you in the tavern. Wish Seeker wannabes." With this, he lifted his helmet visor to reveal a fierce face, human, with pointed teeth and similar tribal markings on his skin. "My name is Greh'gor. If you're after crystals then go ahead. But you're not the only ones searching. Now, move aside, and let us pass."

At this, Corryn could easily see the problem. Although the path was a little more open here, enough for trees and rocks, it was still tight enough to struggle getting through as a group, and either the paladin's team would have to retreat towards the house to let his own party through, or they would need to move back a few hundred metres through the gorge for the paladin's group to proceed. They were at an impasse. "I'm sorry, but no can do," he said. "We also need to get past, and I would suggest you have less distance to move back to allow us passage."

This did not go down well with Greh'gor. "We've completed our task, and we have places to be. Now, get moving!" He bared his teeth even more, in an attempt at intimidating Corryn and the others. Not that he had much success. Meanwhile, Rob was still trying to climb the tree, despite the demands earlier to stop. This did nothing to calm the situation, and soon enough the paladin had drawn his large blade. The others alongside him – an archer, a bard, and a rogue, had all drawn their own weapons. "If you won't let us through, then we have no choice. Your blood will be the price for passage."

Seeing the opportunity, and knowing there was no way now to avoid fighting, Willow leapt down from the cliff, adjusting her aim to land almost directly on top of the closest foe, the bard, who had his lute and rapier already out ready to fight. In surprise, he turned and swung wildly, but the monk was prepared, and dodged left and right to avoid any blows. In turn, she swung her quarterstaff, and knocked him back into the wall, winding him badly.

Upon seeing her ally hurt in such a way, the archer ran back, bounding up onto an outcrop from the cliff face and taking a small degree of shelter from harm. She took careful aim, and fired three arrows, one after the other, at Corryn, as the paladin called out to him. "Treachery! Where was she hiding, eh?" Corryn did his best to dodge, but although the first two arrows flew past, the third managed to graze him on the arm and drew blood. Nevertheless, he didn't want to fight, and moved back behind the boulder to attempt to deal with the wound.

"We're not here to fight you! We can come to some agreement, surely?" Yet, he had to wonder at how quickly such a seemingly innocent encounter had descended into violence. It was odd, and appeared to Corryn to be strangely convenient. Barely any time had passed yet now they were in a combat situation, and the anger shown over such a simple and minor conflict was completely out of proportion. His suspicions were raised, and he considered that perhaps this was part of Gale's test? It would be easy to manufacture. Send another team with instructions to stop anyone from reaching the house and collecting the crystals, that would be a sensible twist. It would explain why the opposing team had turned to violence so quickly on such a flimsy premise. They simply needed any excuse to begin a fight and delay Corryn and the others, to stop them reaching their goal.

Of course, he didn't want to kill anyone, but if things came to a head then he would do whatever he needed to defend himself and his friends. He couldn't count on the rest of the team to be so reserved though, and although Kristoph and Lionel were less likely to kill for the sake of it, the others were unknown quantities. Willow seemed like she would be pragmatic about the whole thing, not killing without a reason, but Rob was a loose cannon. Point him at something and he would simply let all hell be unleashed until either victory or death. Indeed, he had already charged ahead, giving up on his fruitless attempts to hide in the tree, and had engaged the opposing rogue in a melee brawl. Kaylessa was the real problem. She had already demonstrated her own anger issues that day, and as Corryn and Lionel had discussed previously, she was one who would never hold back in the pursuit of power, and this surely extended to a simple fight. Any opportunity granted to demonstrate her strength and skill, and she would take it with both hands. Anyone in her way would not be spared from death's cold grip.

As if to prove Corryn's point, he turned and saw a bolt of energy flying through the air from a nearby tree, behind which Kaylessa had taken cover. She had cast a magic missile which hit its target square in the chest, knocking him back a few metres and badly hurting him. The target was Greh'gor himself, who responded by charging forwards and swinging his claymore wildly at her face. It was all she could do to avoid a fatal strike, as she staggered back and tried to defend against his angry blows. She certainly wasn't suited to close quarters combat, and Corryn drew his rapier, leaping into action to protect his colleague. He darted and stabbed as much as he could, trying to distract the beast of a man, without attempting a fatal blow, but still Greh'gor persisted, easily managing to fend off two opponents.

Across the battlefield, the rogue had already fallen, barely a match for Rob's warhammer. Now, Rob turned his attention to the archer, still perched on her rock, as Kristoph came to the aid of Willow who was using every weave and dodge possible from her Drunken Master style, to stay out of the way of the rapier blows being rained upon her. The druid immediately turned into a dire wolf, leaping across and slamming directly into the bard, just narrowly missing Willow as she stepped back. It didn't take too long for him to fall also, though notably Kristoph was a lot more gentle than Rob had been even in his dire wolf form. For a moment it seemed like he may have lived, but this hope was extinguished as Kristoph returned to his wood elf body. He watched as the breathing grew shallow, the twitching stopped, and the body of the bard lay still. He must have been too powerful in his slam, he surmised, and done enough internal damage that there was no helping the poor fellow, without them realising sooner.

This left only Greh'gor and the archer, who was much too quick for the diminutive barbarian and had managed to leap from rock to rock, making her way towards the northern point where the gully became narrow and led the way to Centralis. She continued to fire off potshots, hitting occasionally but mainly doing little damage as her arrows bounced off his armour and spiked shield. Rob was starting to tire, and his running slowed as he stumbled forwards. In the middle of all this, Lionel took the chance to strike.

He was closest to Greh'gor, and like Corryn, had also worked out that this encounter couldn't be mere coincidence. He jumped across just as the paladin raised his claymore to strike Corryn hard on the temple, and managed to get both arms around his neck, pulling him back in a surprise attack. It was just enough, and Corryn leapt to the side out of the way as the blade came down on nothing but air. This was completely unexpected by Greh'gor, and he turned and continued to swing hoping to hit anything at all. In response, Lionel grabbed hold of his arm and pulled as hard as he could, betraying a remarkable strength for a man of his years. It was enough to keep the claymore from hitting its target, and both participants fell back away from Corryn and Kaylessa in a tense struggle.

Across the field, Willow had seen the archer fleeing, and made her attempt to stop the foe from getting too far away. While Rob had slowed, and Kristoph caught his breath from the rapid transformation, Willow demonstrated her incredible speed as she darted straight towards the opening in the gully. As she caught up to the fleeing opponent, she struck out with her quarterstaff, not enough to break bones, but just enough to catch the archer on the back of her legs and bring her tumbling to the ground. "We're not here to kill you," said Willow, though she had to admit silently that the team hadn't done a very good job so far at avoiding bloodshed. She proceeded to grab rope from her rucksack and tie the girl up, keeping her in place if only to prevent her from continuing to fire arrows. She also removed the bow and quiver and put them to one side against a rock, as Rob and Kristoph finally caught up to them.

Elsewhere, the struggle between Greh'gor and Lionel continued, as the cleric managed to finally force the paladin to drop his weapon. Corryn was quick to confiscate it, throwing it away into the undergrowth nearby. The end came when Lionel was able to get a hand on Greh'gor's throat, squeezing tightly in a bid to force the larger man to let go of him. Nothing he did, however, would convince Greh'gor to loosen his grip, until finally he went slack and began to twitch. His grip became tighter on Lionel, before eventually relaxing, as he slumped down and dropped to the ground. Lionel immediately fell to his knees and searched for signs of life, checking for breathing and a pulse, but it was no use. Greh'gor was dead.

As Corryn walked back to the pair, he murmured, "Does it not seem a contradiction? For a man of God to take the life of another?"

"To take a life in anger, or without just cause, is a sin," came the reply. "To defend oneself when in danger, or to protect others who may be in danger, is a duty."

Lionel stepped back, and performed whatever rites were appropriate for a fallen foe, under the Church of Icuriel, before continuing. "It's not how I wanted things to play out. In better circumstances he would be alive, and none of the fighting would have taken place. But by my faith, it is no sin to kill when the outcome would be worse if one is left alive. Imagine, if you will, a man who murders others without discrimination. Would it be better to allow that man to live, knowing what he will do, to avoid getting blood on your own hands? Or should that man die, so that the majority are spared?"

Corryn stood silent, pondering, but could find no answer. In any case, the results of the brief fight were clear. Three dead bodies to be reported, though Lionel would make sure that each one in turn was treated in the proper way by his religion, as befitting an honoured enemy. The sole survivor, the archer, was currently trussed up and ready to be questioned, courtesy of Willow and her rope. The others made their way back, to begin the conversation.

"First things first," said Corryn, as he approached. "This fight escalated quickly, and I'm more than a little suspicious. Were you sent here by Gale to find crystals, or were you here to delay us?"

The others realised immediately what Corryn was getting at, the potential twist in the initiation task, but the archer remained silent. Instead, she struggled against her bonds and tried to move her hands, shaking her head. "Loosen her a bit," Lionel suggested, and Willow complied with the request, keeping the feet bound but allowing the girl limited use of her hands. She immediately began to form a series of symbols with her hands, but nobody knew what they meant. For a moment Lionel and Kaylessa both suspected her of arcane magicks, but they could sense no disturbance, and held back, preparing just in case.

"I cannae understand. Is it a book? How many words?" said Rob, confused. At this, Willow gave him a gentle slap around the back of the head.

"It's some kind of sign language, you dolt. She must be mute. Is that right?" Willow glanced towards the girl, directing the question to her, and was met with a vigorous nod of the head.

"Do you understand what she's trying to say?" asked Corryn.

"No," said Willow. "But that might not be a problem. Look, we only need crystals, right? We can let her go without harm and it's not a problem. If she has any we can get them from her, and that should make things easier when we reach the house."

"Are we all in agreement?" said Corryn. The others responded with a "yes", though Kaylessa was notably subdued as she said it. "Okay then. Miss, how many crystals do you have at the moment?" He raised a finger, and she shook her head, but when he raised a second she began to nod. "Okay then. Two crystals. The quota was one for every two team members, so now she only needs the one, and we need three. If we take one from her then she's not left short, and our jobs become that much easier."

As Corryn spoke, the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the crystals in her possession. It was long, thin, and fragile, shining a brilliant navy blue, and seemed to emanate a dull glow from within. Willow, who was closest, reached out to take the crystal from her hands, and passed it over to Corryn, who inspected it before slipping it inside his bag and thanking the archer.

"Hold on," said Kaylessa, suddenly interjecting. "Why not take both? She's not going to join the Wish Seekers on her own, and we don't need her alive for any reason." She stepped forward, only to find her path blocked by Willow.

"Don't you dare. You lay a hand on her, you'll lose the same hand before you can blink."

Hoping to decrease the tension, Corryn stepped in. "She may not be much use by herself, but she can always join another team that needs new members. And we're not murderers. She's defenceless and alone. Would you really kill her in cold blood?"

The response from Kaylessa was stony silence, though she gave Corryn a look that seemed to say "are you really so dense?". Surely by now they had all realised, she was someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill someone simply for being there, but she decided not to press the issue and stepped back. Still, Willow was unnerved by how easily the warlock had backed down. Did she have something else up her sleeve?

The answer came almost immediately. Rob undid the knots on the rope that bound the archer's feet, and Kristoph handed her back her bow and quiver. The girl gave a salute, and started making her way towards the northern gully, towards Centralis, when suddenly a bolt of fiery energy flew past her, narrowly missing her head and impacting harmlessly against the cliff. Before the girl could react, both Willow and Lionel were on top of Kaylessa, pinning her to the ground and holding her arms to her sides, as Rob called out, "Run lassie! Get away, get gone!". The archer proceeded to sprint as fast as she could into the gully, weaving between the rocks, and disappearing from view.

As soon as she was out of sight, Willow got up from the ground and stepped back, as Lionel continued to hold Kaylessa in place. "What the hell was that? I told you, we're leaving her alone!" She pulled out a shortsword from her bag, and though it wasn't her own traditional weapon it was enough to make the restrained Kaylessa turn pale. She stepped across and as Lionel held Kaylessa, she placed the point of the blade directly at Kaylessa's throat.

"You ever try anything like that again, I won't warn you. I won't hesitate. You won't live to see another morning."

Watching the sweat drip from Kaylessa's forehead, the young monk stepped back, and put the blade back into her bag. In response, Kaylessa reared her own head back and spat onto the grass by Willow's feet.

"Who are you, to give me orders? I don't have to answer to you. I answer to no-one."

"You answer to me," came the sharp reply, "ever since this team agreed on me as leader. And if not me, then you answer to Gale. As Corryn said. We are not murderers." Then, to Lionel – "Let her go."

Lionel immediately relaxed his grip, and Kaylessa dropped to the ground. She stood up straight, met Willow's eye, and waited. Neither broke contact for a full minute, before finally the warlock turned her whole body away. "We'll see about that."

With that, she stormed off towards the house, along the path they were originally taking, and vanished out of sight. As soon as she was gone, Willow let out a sigh. "I'm not meant for this," she muttered, as she picked up her own bag and began to walk. Corryn fell into step right next to her.

"You took on this responsibility when you put your name forward as team leader."

"I thought it was to supervise, and liaise with the Mediators. I never expected I'd have to give orders, or for people to follow them."

"The best leaders are the ones who don't want to lead. Power corrupts, remember."

"Where have I heard that before..." said Willow, recalling her earlier conversation with a certain cleric.

"Nevertheless, the lesson is an important one. I can't imagine this group will need much in the way of leading, to tell the truth, but that young woman is dangerous. It's going to take all of us to keep her in check, and you have to be ready to step up when necessary." The conversation ended, there, and they maintained a stoic silence as they made their way in Kaylessa's footprints to the house, where they would hopefully find the remaining crystals.


End file.
